


Just Us Right Now

by null_vier



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Polyamory, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:21:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21953584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/null_vier/pseuds/null_vier
Summary: In which Taeyong and Ten tell everything and nothing about their partnership, and Johnny fills in the rest
Relationships: Lee Taeyong/Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Comments: 9
Kudos: 35
Collections: kbas secret santa 2019





	Just Us Right Now

**Author's Note:**

  * For [chibixkadaj](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chibixkadaj/gifts).



* * *

> **DATE:** 202X.07.XX
> 
> **SUBJECT:** T X T (transcript)
> 
>   
> 
> 
> **Hello and welcome! Thank you so much for taking time away from your busy schedules to chat with _Marked_ magazine.**
> 
> **Lee Taeyong (a.k.a TY) and Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul (a.k.a Ten):** Thank you for having us! It's a pleasure.
> 
> **You two have been working for a total of nearly a decade in the tattoo industry…**
> 
> **Ten:** (pointing at TY) He’s been at this for much longer than me. He’s the _sunbae_ between us!
> 
> **But your popularity just skyrocketed after superstar Taemin recently revealed his back piece, which was a collaborative effort between the three of you. Before we talk about that, though, could you please tell us about how each of you got into tattooing?**
> 
> **Ten:** (smiling at TY, prompting him to speak first) _Sunbaenim_?
> 
> **TY:** Well, I always kinda had an interest in art... 
> 
> **Ten:** Kinda.
> 
> **TY:** I didn’t get any formal training at a _hagwon_ or anything like that, but as a kid I used to doodle a lot. In class I would doodle on my notes, on the boards, even on my hands and arms. (laughing) On my classmates’ arms too. At home I would doodle on my clothes to customize them, until I realized that I could take my art ventures further and take a paintbrush and even blades and sandpaper to the fabric. My mother wasn’t too impressed by my choices, (laughing) but I suppose it was only a matter of time until I turned to professional skin doodling.
> 
> **How did she and your father take your decision to become a tattooist? Was she more supportive when you told them that you wanted to pursue tattooing -- professional skin doodling, as you neatly put it -- as a career, given your history?**
> 
> **TY:** The thing is I never really sat my parents down and told them about wanting to become a tattooist, but by the time I came of age, I was already so into the concept of tattooing that I quickly got my first tattoos and started hanging around the shop. My parents weren’t on board, as most of the older generation would be, I think. But eventually they saw my fine line tattoos for themselves (turning his elbows out to display said tattoos) and decided that they weren’t hideous to look at. (laughing) And when they learned that a big-name tattoo artist by the name of Hero had taken me on as an apprentice, basically securing me a job, that’s when they fully came around. They were probably just glad that I was finally applying myself, even if it was to something more unconventional.
> 
> **Unconventional is right. Other parents would want their children to obtain a college degree, and as much as tattooing is an art, there aren’t any college courses you can take to become a specialist in body art.**
> 
> **TY:** There aren’t! And that probably adds to the misconception that tattooing isn’t a legit art form, but hell-- Oh my god. I'm sorry. I'm not supposed to swear, right? 
> 
> **Ten:** (stifling his laughter)
> 
> **It's alright! We'll be editing this anyway. Please continue.**
> 
> **TY:** I apologize. I'll minimize the swearing. Anyway, people seem to believe that tattooing isn't artistic, mainly because of all its baggage. How could tattooing criminals be glorified as high art by being taught in schools and presented as a valid career?
> 
> **Ten:** But having body art doesn't make you a criminal.
> 
> **TY:** Exactly!
> 
> **Ten:** Just because you want to get tattoos, it doesn't mean you're a bad person. Choosing how you, like, want to present your body doesn't determine your morals.
> 
> **Well said. It's artists like yourselves, who work with not just celebrated personalities, but many other ordinary people, who are helping bring about acceptance and recognition to tattooing as a form of art.**
> 
> **TY:** Thank you. Of course, that push for acceptance has been a movement for decades, and we owe a lot to the tattooists who came before us. They laid the groundwork for us younger tattooists and just kept expanding on their work in spite of stigma, producing undeniably great works of art that not everyone would even attempt to understand. Still they kept on until they became our influences, our teachers, basically, and you can see the similarities in how studying socially accepted art works, formally and informally. Let me ask you: (turning to Ten) Does someone have to go to art school to be considered an artist?
> 
> **Ten:** Of course not. There are a lot of amazing self-taught artists out there. You don't have to take photography courses to become a great photographer, for example.
> 
> **TY:** (pointing at Ten) He would know, as someone who did go to art school.
> 
> **Ten, would you like to tell us more about your experience as an art student? How do they compare to your experience as a tattooist in training?**
> 
> **Ten:** It’s kinda obvious, but becoming a tattoo apprentice made me feel more, like, free with my art. I definitely learned a lot in my art classes, stuff that would’ve taken much longer for me to master if I’d jumped straight into tattooing--
> 
> **TY:** (shaking his head) Don’t listen to him. He’s a crazy fast learner.
> 
> **Ten:** (to TY) Excuse me, it’s my turn to answer questions now. (continuing) Anyway, as an art major in college I learned all of the basics of drawing, and as a tattoo apprentice I got to practice those same lessons. Just in a new medium. Not that I didn’t have much to learn about drawing on skin -- I _did_ , and there was _so_ much more to learn than I expected. But like I said, I felt like I had more freedom as an apprentice than as a regular art student. In art school you’re always working for a grade, working to impress your professors. I guess it’s not super different from trying to impress your tattoo mentor or your clients, but I realized something early on in my career: if the client can tell that you’re doing your best to fulfill their wishes, to bring their vision to life, that’s usually enough for them. Effort goes a long way with clients. And if you’re talking to someone who wants a custom tattoo, chances are they’re already a fan of your work.
> 
> **TY:** (to Ten) You were saying something before we began the interview. Something about the collaborative aspect.
> 
> **Ten:** Oh right. So in college the people you're basically making art for, your professors, serve as guides. They would be like your mentors in the tattooing world. But unlike mentors and clients, these professors give more critique than… creative input. Clients can be more like partners than critics, and it's the same thing for mentors. I don't know what it's like for other people, but I really liked my apprenticeship because, (looking at TY and smiling) well, my own mentor was my first client and would become my partner as well.
> 
> **Your gave your first tattoo to TY?**
> 
> **Ten:** Yes!My very first one!
> 
> **Since you called him your first client, does that mean he paid you to do it?**
> 
> **Ten:** (laughing) That's not--
> 
> **TY:** (pulling down his shirt collar) Do you think this is something I would've paid for?
> 
> **Ten:** Ugh, stop. You said my lines weren't that bad!
> 
> **TY:** For a beginner!
> 
> **We would love to hear more about this tattoo and the process behind it. What kind of flower is that?**
> 
> **Ten:** So this is a violet, though I guess you can't tell because of the lack of color. (laughing) I love roses, so I originally wanted to do something classic, like a rose on the arm. The bicep? But TY _hyung_ ’s already got a rose on him, so we decided on a less common flower. Also, as you can see… (gesturing at TY's arm) the canvas has no empty space here. Same thing on the other bicep, so we had to go for this spot here by the…
> 
> **TY:** The clavicle.
> 
> **Ten:** The clavicle. What you see is pretty much what I did 3 years ago, but blown out. 
> 
> **That's quite a difficult place to tattoo for a beginner. It could get extra painful for the person getting it as well.**
> 
> **TY:** I said the same thing to him when he suggested it! But he was determined to place it there.
> 
> **Ten:** I wanted it to be somewhere prominent. I told _hyung_ …
> 
> **TY:** "I want everyone to see the kind of genius you have in an apprentice." (rolling eyes) Something like that.
> 
> **Ten:** 'Ey, but you didn't deny it! That means you didn't disagree with my judgment. Nah, of course, I was just joking. I wasn't really a genius. Honestly, my hand was shaking really bad, and it took me forever to complete just one line. I saw him wince--
> 
> **TY:** Because you looked like you wanted to go back over the lines you just laid down!
> 
> **Ten:** I didn't though, and that's the important part. Anyway, it was nerve-wracking. The whole time I was thinking he would tell me to quit at any moment, like, "You suck. Put down the machine and leave." But he basically held my hand and helped me get through it. He really walked me through the entire process and helped me get more comfortable with the machine. I'd tried inking on oranges before, but putting a needle on real skin was just... intense.
> 
> **How do you think he did, TY?**
> 
> **TY:** He did spectacularly, really. Much better than I did with _my_ first tattoo. I just had the misfortune of tattooing a less forgiving canvas back then.
> 
> **Ten:** (smiling) Oh, who?
> 
> **TY:** Me.
> 
> **Let's go back to before you became mentor and student. How did the two of you meet?**
> 
> **Ten: __** _Hyung_ asked to meet me--
> 
> **TY:** Ten wanted to see me at work--
> 
> **Alright, alright, let's hear it from one side first.**
> 
> **TY:** I think I can sum it up for the both of us. Ten actually had a pretty big internet presence even way back, because he would post his artwork, he would stream... this and that--
> 
> **Ten:** This and that. (laughing)
> 
> **TY:** (holding back his laughter) --and just really stay active on SNS in general. I first got to know him that way, as much as you can "get to know" someone online, at least. But then one day--
> 
> **Ten:** One day.
> 
> **TY:** \--a client walked in -- it wasn’t Ten; this dude was hella tall -- and I swear, for half the duration of the session, he would ask me question after question. Not just the standard questions posed by virgins -- I mean, people getting their first tattoos -- but questions about technique, about tattooing history... other random stuff I couldn’t simply answer. Anyway, it turned out that this person was best friends with Ten, though I didn’t know it was him at the time. That day, Ten was just a nameless artsy friend who was interested in tattooing and wanted to see a tattooist in action, so I told Johnny -- he was the client -- to bring his friend along for the next session so he could observe and show me his portfolio if he wanted.
> 
> **That’s amazing! So you met on the session after that and realized that Ten was an artist you’d been following all along? Did you offer him an apprenticeship then?**
> 
> **TY:** Not quite.
> 
> **Ten:** It took a bit longer for the three of us to meet in the shop. (laughing) But yes, we did eventually get to that point. Needless to say, it didn’t take much convincing for him to take me on.
> 
> **Of course. The portfolio presentation would have been a formality when TY had already seen your work online and liked it. From there, we can comfortably return to _the_ work of art that everybody has been raving about: your tandem piece taking place of pride on the back of none other than Taemin. Please tell us what it was like working together to come up with something so intricate. How did you and Taemin cross paths?**
> 
> **TY:** Good old word of mouth, simply. As I have it, the store was recommended by a friend of Taemin- _nim_ ’s, who was one of our clients, specifically one of Ten’s clients, who was sent our way by _another_ client and friend. We like to kind of survey the people who come to us, ask them how they found out about us, and such. Because SNS is so ubiquitous, it's no surprise that we connect with a lot of our clients that way, but we would also often hear that we were personally recommended by previous clients. Anyway, one time, just before we were about to close, a group of people walked in asking for Ten...
> 
> **Ten:** Which was kinda terrifying, because they didn't have an appointment, and they were wearing masks!
> 
> **TY:** Apparently one of the masked people was Taemin- _nim_ himself!
> 
> **Ten:** And I was ready to pass out when we realized.
> 
> **TY:** (pointing to Ten) He's a big fan.
> 
> **Taemin asked for Ten specifically?**
> 
> **TY:** Yes--
> 
> **Ten:** Not just me, though! He said Ten _and_ another artist who did blackwork, because he wanted a big piece on his back in that style--
> 
> **TY:** (nodding) Which happened to be Ten’s specialty.
> 
> **Ten:** \--and he wanted to reveal it on the opening night of his upcoming tour, which was a few weeks away. He realized it would be a lot of work for one tattoo artist, but still we had, like, not a lot of time for healing. Even just the size and detail he wanted it in… for the client's comfort, you would normally schedule more than one session for that kind of design. You need to break up the hours, even if you have two artists working together at the same time. So we talked about it, and he decided to push back the reveal to the first encore show so we would have enough time in between his rehearsals and his tour stops to complete it.
> 
> **How did TY come on board?**
> 
> **Ten:** It was a no-brainer. _Hyung_ did blackwork, he _trained_ me in it, he taught me everything I know about tattooing--
> 
> **TY:** (smiling) Really? Everything? I'm sure you don't mean that.
> 
> **Ten:** OK, fine. Deny the hype like that. How about eighty to ninety percent?
> 
> **TY:** (nodding) That sounds fair.
> 
> **Ten:** So _hyung_ did that. Also, this is the first time I'm saying this, but I had secretly been wanting to do a tandem piece with him. I was just waiting for the perfect time to ask him, and this was it.
> 
> **TY:** Ten, no!
> 
> **Ten:** Ten, yes!
> 
> **That is just _cool_ , plain and simple. You really kind of brought things full circle.**
> 
> **Ten:** (smiling) That was the goal, yeah.
> 
> **We've heard a bit about the tattooing process, so let's talk more about the conceptualization--**

* * *

A hand settled on Johnny's shoulder just before a pair of lips touched his cheek.

"Whatcha reading, _hyung_?" Ten asked. His skin was still cool from washing up, and his breath was minty.

In half a second, Johnny minimized the current window on his monitor. “Nothing you’d find interesting.”

“Lies,” Ten retorted. “I saw my name on that doc.”

“Alright, you got me. It’s the transcript of the interview you did with Taeyong last week.”

“Oh really?” Ten pulled up a stool next to Johnny as he reached for the mouse. “Lemme see!”

Johnny was quicker and quit the program entirely with a few keystrokes foiling Ten’s attempt to pull up the window. “Nuh uh, babe. Nobody’s supposed to see.”

Ten plopped onto the stool and pouted. “How come you get to see it, though? Why can’t _I?_ ”

“ _Because_ , my curious cat, you’re supposed to see the interview only after it’s been properly written and edited.” Johnny wrapped an arm around his partner to pull him closer, dipping his hand unabashedly, almost unconsciously, into the wide arm hole of Ten’s sleeveless shirt. “So basically when it comes out in the magazine. Same thing with the raw photos, you know?” Even less consciously, he ran his fingers over the mark on Ten's ribs -- a mark visible to no one but people like Johnny and Taeyong, who knew Ten's very soul.

Ten continued to glare at him in what Johnny recognized as feigned annoyance. “Still doesn’t explain why you’re allowed to read that oh-so confidential transcript. How’d you even get it in the first place?”

“Oh, you know me. I have my ways.” He quirked an eyebrow at Ten.

He received a quirked eyebrow in kind, but paired with curled lips in a more challenging expression. That was never a good sign when it came to Ten.

Ten's hand drifted down to Johnny's thigh, settling just where shorts ended and skin began. "I have ways of my own, too, you know."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying you will let me read that transcript in, I don't know, however long it takes you to hold out." 

Johnny linked his free hand with Ten's wandering one, and pushed it closer to his knee, where it was safer. A laugh bubbled up his throat, but it came out as a splutter as he tried to speak. "H-hey, Taeyong's not gonna like waking up to us--" He tried to sneak a glance towards the bed where he'd left Taeyong.

Ten gently turned Johnny's face back. "It's fine. He's still out cold. Looks like you really wore him out last night." His eyes were glittering far too mischievously at this hour.

" _Me?_ " It was a tall order to summon enough indignation for it to show on his face, but Johnny made an attempt. "I was just ready to crash last night after my shower, but you two had decided to conveniently start the party just then."

Ten shrugged. "It was a party for you. And Taeyong- _hyung_ was stressed. I had to help him out."

“Uh huh. And I’m supposed to believe that that wasn’t a plot between the two of you to get me to do all the work?”

"Multiple things can be true at once," was Ten's coy reply.

That was a thought. Having Ten in his arms while watching Taeyong's sleeping form was a kind of peace that Johnny could not have imagined would settle on him. Ten had certainly been part of the picture for a long time, but Taeyong had slipped in unexpectedly to linger there. The resulting image was not unlike something that danced on the cusp of slumber and wakefulness. 

Taeyong stirred, turning over under the sheets just so they slipped down his bare back. Right there in the indelible lines on his skin was the story that Taeyong had carried since birth -- some would say even longer -- and the undeniable proof that Johnny's and Ten's own stories were linked with his. After all, only those whose fates were deeply intertwined could see each other's marks as if they were tattooed in stark black ink that would never fade.

While Johnny and Ten had taken that fact for granted, having grown up together, they were compelled to rethink their relationship when Taeyong came along. It wasn't that they'd realized that there was something missing all along, far from it. Rather, they'd realized that there was always space to be made even in their wholeness. 

It had taken Taeyong a little more time to come to terms with the idea of entering a relationship with two soulmates, even in a world that recognized that several people could see one's mark, if they were lucky. His internal struggle could have pushed Ten, and Johnny, away forever, but Johnny had stepped in for all of their sakes. The crux of the matter was illusion, supported by pride and fear, and Johnny knew all about clinging to an illusion for one's own comfort and self-protection. He knew that Taeyong would eventually open his eyes.

"Hey, _hyung,_ where are you? Are you joining Taeyongie- _hyung_ back in dreamland?" Ten swept a lock of hair away from Johnny's forehead, less teasing now. Johnny had barely gotten a wink of sleep, and it probably showed on his face, because Ten looked ready to hustle him back to bed.

"If he's having brunch over there, then yep, that's where I'm headed." As if on cue, Johnny's stomach grumbled.

Ten's stomach followed suit. "You're gonna leave me to fend for myself back here? That's not very boyfriend material of you."

"Hey, you could've just asked for food. I can't read your mind." Johnny got to his feet, breaking the embrace, but still held on to his lover's hand.

"I know, but you make me wonder sometimes." 

Though Johnny had started for the door, Ten did not budge from his seat, and Johnny had to pause. When he turned back, he was met with a smile that he couldn't help reciprocating.

"You're not staying here to read that document while I'm away, are you?" That wasn't what the softness in Ten's face hinted at, and he looked sleepier than he did earlier, but Johnny felt like ribbing him just one more time.

"Naaaah," Ten drawled. "I just don't feel like moving."

"Come on. Don't make me cook a whole meal _and_ serve it to your lazy ass in bed too." Johnny tugged a bit harder.

“How about you _don’t_ cook at all and I just order us some food with this lovely top of the line desktop? We could both chill right here and get sustenance with minimal effort. Win-win.”

“Huh? Winwin? Right in front of us two?” croaked a voice. Taeyong was finally awake and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Johnny could tell that he was trying to appear as gruff as possible, but it was hard to see him that way when he looked like a rumpled kitten. “Got your sights on a new man, huh?” Johnny caught an amused twitch in his other partner’s lips before he pulled the blanket up to conceal his face.

The sight of an apparently upset Taeyong stirred Ten to action. Now it was him pulling Johnny towards the bed, and he soon flopped onto Taeyong to hug him tight. “Nooo, _hyung_ , that’s not what I meant.” He glanced back at Johnny, pleading. “ _Hyung_ , back me up!”

Johnny could only smile as Taeyong grinned sleepily up at him.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, chibixkadaj! I enjoyed writing this and hope you enjoyed reading it as well. For reasons, the story had to be distilled into this version, unfortunately watering down the more explicit bingo squares. But I do plan on writing them out in the future, so please look forward to it!
> 
> Thank you to everyone who extended support in any and all forms! Your encouragement was vital to the completion of this fic. Special thanks go to vandoorne for organizing the event!
> 
> Bingo squares: tattoos/tattooing, AU: soulmates, threesomes, AU: camboy*
> 
> Title source: NCT U - Baby Don't Stop
> 
> *Yes, Ten is a former camboy, and there's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it reference to it in the interview!


End file.
